tapas

went to a little hidden spanish place with back garden with the mister a couple of years ago and it was rammed on saturday night. only just though to go back after one of the written papers. was feeling antisocial so settled into my table for one in the shade and had tapas. food wasn't great :/ then went for a long walk across the bridge just to see the quayside in the sunshine. told you i was pre-nostalgic!

belsfield

i'm not the biggest fan of the lakes but its proximity (haha) means i've accidentally found myself there more often than one would think. went immediately post exams jan 2013 because we'd exams after christmas break and it wasn't really a holiday (only that i refused to be cheated of festive cheer so still had a nice holiday hehe). was also in the lakes a couple of times for wilderness medicine events, during the october junior doctor strike that didn't happen and now over the early may bank holiday weekend two weeks from finals, and maybe 36h before my surgical exam.

so i hoped this wouldn't bite me in the backside and live in fear of hedonism catching up with me. not wanting to jinx it but so far so good hehe. surgical exam cleared (woohoo!) and all raring to go for finals now. it was the last of six in course assessments we've had and we need to be wholly competent across four domains to progress to finals. for friends who've had a run of bad luck, this last one was pretty darn high stakes because a third strike in any one domain would mean failing the year before even sitting finals (!!!) which to me is more than a little unfair but hey, i don't make the rules. silly, nevertheless. 

the belsfield is a lovely grand hotel and recently undergone a massive refurb. prime location overlooking the lake with beautiful views all round, living up to the mental picture i had of the lakes. cute town of windermere and when the weather cooperated (day 2) we had some lovely scenery and boaty action on the lake!

the library is gorgeous settings for a spot of tea - all muted palate and brand new furniture.

bay windows at the brasserie, the more casual dining option

our suite was inviting and almost too big for two! but with the weather the way it was, i was refusing to budge.

sole custody eggs and joint custody fry-up at breakfast

we'd room with dinner and breakfast and found it incredibly good value for what we were paying. dinner was an elaborate five course in the well-appointed dining room, lovely grand setting with huge windows overlooking the lake etc. can't fault them! would defo recommend for a quick getaway and i only wish we'd time to have cream tea in the afternoon. well we did have time but i was sleepy and full from a 3h lunch so maybe on our next visit :)

daddy i want a pony

the weather hadn't been great and when there was a sudden stretch of sun, i was eager to banish the cabin fever. far from outdoorsy / athletic (don't let the pictures fool you!) but thoroughly enjoyed this venture to the country that had a walk involving wild (!) ponies (!!!) who were so tame they sidled up for nuzzles and cuddles, and a leisurely lunch at berwick before heading home. there was a freak snow storm on the way back (scary!) but that's february i suppose!

coastal afternoons

hadn't been to the coast in some time and was keen to visit a corner cafe. had breakfast at a beach shack a few weeks ago and enjoyed it so much i'd made a mental note to never turn down an invite to the sea. didn't take much persuasion and despite morning clinic ending late, still made it out before sunset. it was a little grey and very windy at points. skiving friend was insistent on climbing a hill to the monument and there was a point when i was almost blown off (and putting up with horizontal rain) which made me question my better judgment. but all good and made it back to town in one piece.

abandoned clothes

being the race noob i am, had no clue that runners shed layers at the starting line! this was the carnage after the half marathon, and i'd the dubious honour of picking my way through the remains as i went to be nosey around the assembly point. clocked the council truck collecting the clothes for the homeless (i hope?) and was amazed by the sheer waste. the mister is running the NYC marathon in november and hm really don't think i'm game to hop across the pond to cheer him on. bad wife, i know. although i do suppose there are worst ways to spend a november weekend. the sun came out for once (poor runners) and the uni looked resplendent in the light. love a little lavender and this patch smelled divine.

seven brides

since moving to london, have made it a personal mission every summer to attend as many productions at the open air theatre as possible. started with the sound of music in 2012 and was hooked! also caught 12th night, to kill a mockingbird, and peter pan earlier this summer. this was the first time it rained. and twice! have always had good weather before this and was even a little blase so you can imagine our disappointment when the show was cancelled because of inclement weather :( rebooked onto the be rained out again but it was third time lucky. by which time i could probably sing and dance along with the cast for the first 1/3 of the musical because that's how far it got before cancellation the first two times!

great drive and determination...

b

a little slow on the uptake and swear i must be the last person to have visited the*botanist but amidst the torrential downpour, A and i decided to head over for lunch. A has got to be one of the sharpest, smartest and most charming young men i know and watching him materialise in a full suit and wet hair was a giggle. but once we got there, he dried off pretty quick! i suspect it might've involved sticking his head under the hand-dryer but one does not make such impertinent inquiries ;)

there's lovely skylight and natural light (thank goodness rain was short-lived. alas, it was only on en route to lunch, and right after we stepped back out!) and A says it's pretty in a different way after dark when the fairy lights strung across the impressive dome come on.

wonderful lunch and catch up, it's been months after all. and A's one of the few people i can be my politically incorrect worst around, and be spared wrath and judgment. now that is worth braving any thunderstorm for ;)

feb, let's goo!

it's been one of those gloriously sunny stretches and much as i'm a shade-seeker, the soft winter sun has got to be a favourite. finished morning clinic on time and had a little break so took the scenic route home for a cheeky lunch. was a good week, weekend and i'm excited for the week ahead.

it feels so grown up to be living on my own in london, having friends pop over at the drop of a hat and deciding to throw fabulous dinner parties (ok, maybe only fabulous in my head!) at whim. M came round for cake and coffee saturday afternoon and we'd a lovely girly catch up for hours and hours. time flew and as i've said before, not watching the clock over deep meaningful conversation is one of life's biggest joys. phones away, 100% present and engaged / engaging. once she left (boo!) it was time to get down to bizniz of cooking for visiting family. 

there's nothing i enjoy more than getting busy in the kitchen (any excuse, really!) and even more when it's for the folks nearest and dearest to me. i know exactly what they like / dislike and can plan things to the tiniest detail (happy-OCD alert). simple meal, freshest ingredients, no added salt no oil but still tasty, if you get what i mean. turns out i'm the only one who likes cod but substituted with salmon for the rest, silky chicken porridge, massive garden salad (bit east meets west there!) mash with spring veg and a fresh fruit in lieu of pudding. super azn but reminds me of home. in fact, when R came round for dinner a couple of weeks ago, he commented that he'd not had fresh cut, skinned and sliced fruit for pudding since singers. discovered a taste for almond milk lattes (soooo good!) and got the rest hooked too. this is after freaking out at GM soy and phyto-oestrogens. sigh. bring me back to asia where the soy is genuine :(

and quite accidentally, i might be hosting dinner for six (eeks, dining table fits four comfortably!) because my dear friend T is in town and being the charming, popular personality has a big-ish group of friends to catch up with. the more the merrier? so if they all land on my doorstep tomorrow, it'll be a first for me. the mister expressed surprise that i'd invited T and (essentially) strangers for dinner but this has been a funny year where i'm trying to do things that scare me. the first scary thing i did was drive home from oxford street and parallel park all by myself. so maybe this is the next step for my inner misanthrope. am a self-confessed one-trick pony when it comes to home entertaining and there are a couple of stalwarts i can reliably assemble / produce on demand i.e. massive salad, good roast chicken, home made from scratch lasagne, cheese platter and tiramisu / brownies with ice cream. when in doubt, always have a couple of frozen pizzas handy with posh supplements to up the ante, and bottles of good wine that makes guests more forgiving of potential kitchen disasters. 

on the same hostessing note, have psyching up to help the mister host a massive 'do next week and a little nervous but hey, adding to my wifely repertoire (cook, entertain, clean + doctorlawyering) is also on the 'to do' list of perpetual self-improvement. relieved it's going to be at hutong (so there's no cooking nor cleaning to be done) and trying not to be intimidated / overwhelmed by the guest list. also hope they're quickly inebriated so they won't remember when i stick my foot in it. almost eight years together has taught him that with sufficient notice and mental preparation, i'm more or less game for most things so he's been cheeky to sound me out waay in advance knowing i'll come round to the idea in due time.

went on a tiny expedition to richmond. not been in winter but lucked out with the weather and our usual haunt was practically preening in the sunshine. yummy lunch followed by slow walk along the thames in a vain attempt to walk some of it off. would've liked to walk to kew had we time and energy but alas the siren song of the shops was louder than my plea for healthy living.

(photo credits to the papa-razzi)

warmest halloween on record

 

it's been some time since i celebrated halloween. not 'properly' since first year, although i've fun memories of riding bongo's party bus when i was working. and the other years have passed as almost a non-event. this year, i made a note in my diary that waitrose was doing a free wine tasting and talk for adults in need of a stiff drink after a scary week. finally! a supermarket that gets me. although i hardly have anything to complain of in terms of bad weeks. in fact, it was a quite a good week (read: slack) and the only thing scary on the grand scale of things was how warm it was. the fact that i could get away with wearing a skirt with no tights and no coat meant that global warming was pulling a little number on us all.

it was public health week which almost felt like reason to take the week off. but i was good and tried to stay abreast, which wasn't without its benefit because the elected council leader man came to give a couple of talks. and ran one of the community days. a politician true and true but once you go into it with that mindset, he wasn't all that bad. the surprising take away for me was the social model of medicine being a tiny bit more interesting than the medical. there's so much more to health and healing than i realise, and it's eye-opening to learn of the other factors at play. far from a new found fascination for public health (oh i'm even less drawn to work in primary care now!) i liked it on an academic, intellectual level. and it didn't hurt that singers came out very well in the comparison table, as i've already mentioned in this post. so that sparked a whole flood of superiority and i left feeling very smug.

made the most of the warm night and went walking along the quayside. passed groups of youth that was a little scary, and saw cartons of eggs that i hoped weren't meant for me.

malpica

this was the one and only day of rubbish weather the whole holiday, which i suppose is in and of itself something to be thankful for. used to joke about the english being so obsessed with the weather but having lived here for three years now, it's something i've reluctantly caught on to. it really makes or breaks the day, despite my local italian deli man telling me not to worry about things i can't change. gotta love his mediterranean philosophy! rather fortuitously, planned to spend the morning on the boat with breakfast in bed and only head out in the pm, when the weather was marginally better.

ventured to the tiny fishing village of malpica and was greeted by, get this, mr. mayor himself! it was a sleep little town and very much involved in fishing. what was sad was how the lady with the mayor she ran the womens fishing net weaving association, but don't get me started on the sort of margins they were making on those hand-woven nets. actually, let's talk about that. from my pidgin spanish and poor memory for numbers, it was something like how the women earn EUR16/h, it takes 300 (wo)man hours to weave a net, and each net retails for EUR30k. something doesn't add up and i hope it's me! but back to the lady boss, she lost her father and brothers at sea, a common tragedy for old malpican families.

three rocks

we took a picture of the three rocks in winter and promptly spent an hour wandering around capri trying to find the exact same vantage spot. on one of my more ill-advised ventures, i accidentally insisted that this path led there but while we got a close-up of said rocks, it was not the photo op i so desperately wanted to re-create after seven years. but it was cool in the 'forest' path and we passed some gorgeous holiday homes getting their annual facelift before their owners stopped by for the season. not a complete loss! eventually mustered up the courage to ask at a flower shop (showed them the photo we took in 2007!) and the boss lady straight away pointed us to parc augusta. phew! didn't even quibble the EUR1 entrance fee (don't remember there being an entrance fee in winter!!!) and ran to 'our spot'. asked a japanese tourist to take our photo but alas the angle was all wrong (she was petite compared to the huge tourist who'd helped us the last time) and i was too shy to insist on her stretching her hands high up to snap our picture. snooze you lose? so i didn't get the exact photo i wanted and the mister was mocking my obsessiveness. but that made me realise i need to stop living in the past, to stop reliving old memories because while the rocks might've stayed the same, we've moved on.

(can't believe the mister is carrying his EU law text in a ziplock bag. as if he even read it once!)

richmond park

i don't know about you but this photo reminds me of the everglades in florida, minus the lazing croc or two. who'd have thought summer would come so early to london! we try to leave weekends free and easy so as to make the most of the fickle english sun should it deign to appear. one recent sunday, we practiced the time-honoured meterological check and stuck our arms out of the window. it was warm and sunny and away we went! richmond is a lovely lovely part of london and we don't need much of an excuse to pop over. after a leisurely lunch at petersham nursery, we took the road less traveled and explored the river bank. 

and after we walked as far as we could without getting our toes wet (sorry, being a city girl has left me wet feet-averse. no connecting with nature etc for me!) we crept back through this herd of wild deer in richmond park. how about that? from the everglades to the serengeti in a matter of minutes. gotta love london and the little surprises up her sleeve :) also love the soft serve ice cream we stopped for, and a nap in the park on our well-seasoned picnic mat.

indian summer

it's been deliciously warm of late and i'm starting to think that london's at her best in october. the throngs of summer tourists (ugh) have thinned out, it's not swelteringly hot, because, goodness me, most of london and its non-existent air-conditiong is incapable of dealing with heat. in fact, the weather has been so amiable of late that we spent most of sunday soaking up some sun. something i'd never do in singers but somehow relish in london. green park wasn't too crowded and the mister has the foresight to keep our trusty picnic mat in the car. so after a truly satisfying lunch at matsuri, we ambled over to find ourselves a little patch of grass. and what's some pseudo-summer sunshine without the obligatory soft serve ice cream with chocolate flake :) we must've spent the whole afternoon in joyous food coma at the park, trying our darndest not to let the territorial pigeons poop on us (as you do!). all in all, a very good sort of sunday.

the commute

sometimes i complain about the commute, other times i'm happy to have some time out to read, to think, to stare out of the window. and sometimes, there's even a rainbow :)

inside a snow globe

had paper 1 today and thank God for holding the snow till we were inside the exam hall. had horrible visions of me wading in knee deep snow to the venue but the flurry only fell midway through the exam. kept looking across the hall and out of the window - snow is still novel and fascinating - but thought i might seem suspicious and had to stop. but when i left, couldn't resist taking photo after photo of the fresh snowfall. it's not the first time this winter but it wasn't this thick or pristine the last time :) and now to get cracking on paper 2 before it's off to the lakes midweek. looking forward to holiday part deux after the exams are over and done with.

snow is good for all of 10minutes

and then it turns into slush. 

suffered the ignominy of spotted wellies while walking to the GP practice as my trusty leather boots gave up the ghost at the first snowflake. maybe not so trusty after all! so off i went through the frozen moor with wool work trousers unceremoniously stuffed into my gum boots. of course, still managed to trip and fall flat on my face on the footpath. that'll teach me to googlemap my way while walking because clearly, multitasking on an icy road is asking for trouble. 

rainy wednesdays

there was one afternoon last week when i'd absolutely nothing to do but watch the rain fall. what a luxury :) had a steaming cup of chai, scented candles and google reader for company. love wednesdays because we're done at 1pm, latest, and it sort of makes tuesdays the new thursday because wednesdays feel like friday, if you get what i mean. had a chilled afternoon in before succumbing to cabin fever and making coffee plans.

while the coffee here wasn't much to scream about, i'd another cup of chai while resisting a big slab of brownie with vanilla bean ice cream. this used to be stuart*&co but it's been renamed over summer. glad they kept the cosy interior though. 

rainy nights

A was so kind as to treat us to udon at koya and on a cold, rainy night it really hit the spot.

that's the ritz as we passed it on the bus. my little brother spent the night as the mister was traveling for work. so blessed that the men in my life spoil me :) don't mind being home alone but thankfully it's not happened yet. guessing it would at some point and i'd be forced to grow up. but as long as i've an emotionally indulgent brother who comes to use the wii on the pretext of jie-sitting, who's complaining.

chamonix

we woke up bright and early on sunday to beautiful blue skies and it felt like the perfect day to road trip to chamonix. we set off after a late breakfast (so much for bright and early haha) and breezed through the borders. having been to chamonix in winter over ten years ago, it was such a trip down memory lane, only this time it was all green grass, and, well, blue skies.